Green Hornet Has the Big-screen Buzzzzz

Columbia Pictures, which has Spider-Man 3 swinging into theaters on May 4, has its eye on a new "bug": the Green Hornet, which was created by the Lone Ranger's Fran Striker and George Trendle and finds millionaire Brit Reid moonlighting as a masked crime fighter.The Green Hornet originated as a '30s radio serial and was once a TV series starring Van Williams and Bruce Lee (as sidekick Kato). The property, says Variety, had previously been eyed by Universal and Miramax, with Kevin Smith developing it for 'Max a few years ago, but Sony-based Neal H. Moritz (an executive producer on Prison Break) has emerged as the guy to actually shepherd the feature franchise. Kato and the Green Hornet, Moritz tells Variety, "are my favorite crime-fighting duo." (No offense, Linc and Michael.)